Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Staunton, September 10 – Because
both Russia and Iran are the object of sanctions by the West, Tehran is
becoming Moscow’s “most reliable partner in the greater Middle East,” according
to Aleksandr Sobyanin, head of the strategic planning service of the Russian
Association for Border Cooperation.

If that happens, Viktoriya
Panfilova, an observer for “Nezavisimaya gazeta,” writes on the “Vestnik
Kavkaza” portal today, that would “change the configuration of the Eurasian
Union” and much else, including the level of international isolation of both
Russia and Iran and the international community’s ability to count on Moscow concerning
Tehran’s nuclear program.

The Iranian president’s first stop
on this tour of Central Asia was in Astana. There, President Nursultan
Nazarbayev discussed with him cooperation between the Customs Union and
Iran.Tomorrow and Thursday, Ruhani will
be in Dushanbe where he will participate in the summit of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization, of which Iran already has observer status.

Because Iran is under sanctions, the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries were reluctant to admit Tehran to
the organization, but now that sanctions have been imposed on Russia as well,
Sobyanin says that “today neither Russia nor China nor anyone else is opposed”
to that step.

“For the first time in modern
history,” the Moscow expert continues, Iran has escaped from the role of a
difficult partner and risen to the level of a strategic ally.” And the
resulting “de-blockading” of both countries through this partnership is giving
each greater freedom of action with respect to Europe and the United States.